The present invention relates to aircraft and, more particularly, to a manually operated overhead galley and crew rest facility in an aircraft.
As is well known in the art, modern long-range commercial aircraft often transport an enormous amount of food and beverages for consumption by the passengers of the aircraft. Typically, it is necessary to load enough food and beverages to feed hundreds of people at least two or more full meals during a single flight. However, it is not uncommon for this enormous amount of food and beverages, disposed in multiple galleys, to consume as much as 25% of the overall passenger cabin floor space. As should be readily apparent, such inefficient use of floor space leads to a reduction in the total number of passenger seating. This reduction in the total number of passenger seating results in significant loss of revenue for an airline.
Attempts have been made to provide automated systems that store galley carts off the main deck, thereby reducing the overall passenger cabin floor space used for food storage and increasing the number of passenger seating. However, these automated systems have not been well received due to the reliability and potential associated cost of maintaining any automated system. Additionally, many of these automated systems have not been well received due to the difficulty in maintaining their cleanliness.
Similarly, long-range commercial flights often require additional facilities for accommodating the flight crew during rest breaks. These facilities often include sleeping berths to enable various flight crew members or relief crews to sleep while in flight. These sleeping berths are typically placed on the main deck of the aircraft. As can be appreciated, such sleeping berths, like the galley carts, reduce the available passenger cabin floor space and, thus, reduce the number of passenger seating.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide a device for maximizing the use of the passenger cabin floor space. Furthermore, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide an overhead galley for stowing galley carts during long-range flights. Still further, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide an overhead galley and crew rest facility to maximize passenger seating. Additionally, there exists a need in the relevant art to provide a manually accessible overhead galley and crew rest facility that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art.
An overhead galley/crew rest system for an aircraft, wherein the aircraft includes a main passenger cabin having a plurality of storage binds disposed along a generally planar ceiling portion thereof. The aircraft further includes an overhead storage section positioned generally above the ceiling portion of the main passenger cabin. The overhead galley/crew rest system includes a galley cart storage area disposed in this overhead storage section, which is capable of storing multiple galley carts. This galley cart storage area defines a generally planar cart plane. A walkway is provided that generally extends through the overhead storage section. The walkway is generally positioned between the plurality of storage binds and generally below the generally planar cart plane. A stairway interconnects the main passenger cabin and the walkway. Similarly, a cart lift mechanism interconnects the main passenger cabin to the overhead storage section for individually raising and lowering the plurality of galley carts. Furthermore, a plurality of sleeping berths and pursuer""s""s station may be included within this overhead storage section.
Further areas of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood that the detailed description and specific examples, while indicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended for purposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.